I guess if these people learn this language as a second language, no harm done, if they learn english fluently as well. If they are going to learn two languages than possibly they should consider the benfits of learning one that may be helpful in the world stage as it may help that person's understanding of the world through an outside culture, as well as english.

The problem may come about if these dead languages, that are spoken by so few people at huge cost of resources in society are only kept as a sort of living museum.

If you want to help people in this day and age, then you really need, in my opinion, to provide a means of gaining further education and above all, information. So if you don't speak a language that has internet resources - you're outside modern society and at a massive disadvantage, regardless of how good it makes you feel.

As an academic exercise, great stuff if you can get funding for the sheer fundamental nature of what you're doing, though what we're going to do with the collections of all these dead languages you speak of I have no idea. What do you do with all the information on dead languages, particularly all those that had no written form? As a means to helping people in society not a chance.

The debate rages in New Zealand, and they have the same arguments, to learn the local language, and they have the big advantage of only wanting to learn one Maori language for the entire country or learn foreign languages as well as english. Some very inflamed passions over there about this.

Interesting contrast between language diversity and ecological diversity. Me thinks both are important. A monoglot would diminish us all. Was it in Blade Runner where the locals spoke a patios of Chinese and French?

I think the real benefits of resurrecting an Aboriginal language may be found in what medicinal cures they might have had 300 or 400 years ago, but lost today.

The greatest contributors to preserving indigenous and tribal languages are without doubt Christian missionaries.

The command of Christ to share the Gospel among all nations and His love, drives us to reach them.. understand their cultures, learn their languages.. reduce it to writing.. teach them literacy... ALL that before we can communicate the Christian message.. so if they say 'no'...they still benefit from all that work.

Christian missionary groups like Summer Institute of Linguistics/Wycliff Bible Translators/New Tribes Mission..and many independant missionaries give their LIVES just to give indigenous tribes their own language and preserve it.

Hudson Southwell produced a Kayan language dictionary.. (Sarawak)
Alan and Madge Belcher spent decades translating the New Testament into Lun Bawang... many others spent years and years translating into other indigenous languages. There is even a PENAN Bible. (new Testament) how much does the Malaysian government care about these pesky jungle nomads who wander around among the valuable timber and getting in the way?.. very little.

DUSUN BIBLE. (sabah)
After a word of welcome by Joel Ng, General Secretary of the Bible Society Malaysia, hymns and choruses in Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Dusun were sung. Among those present were Rev Datuk Dr Thu En Yu, Principal of Sabah Theological Seminary (STS), Pastor Datuk Arun Selutan of SIB Sabah, Rev Dr David Burfield of STS, Pastor Judy Berinai and Canon Sylvia Jeanes of the Anglican Church.
The scripture reading for the day - read by Puan Stemmah Sariau in Bahasa Dusun and Pastor Richard Samporoh in Bahasa Malaysia - was taken from Matthew 7:24-27:

Comment.
I know and have worked with most of the people mentioned in the last 2 paragraphs.. a great privilege indeed. How great is our God!

My vague recollection of the topic from a News week article some years ago is that there are about 3000 native aboriginal languages in Australia, and at least one dies (no longer spoken as a first language) a week.

With English being the defacto language of business, preserving even one language is an uphill battle. While I applaud the effort to revive the Kaurna language, I need to ask what is happenning to the other living languages?

The body of the Kaurna language cannot be revived with a dictionary of 2000 words as the richness, idioms and context are lost, and it is like trying to revive a skeleton when the meat has gone.

My argument would be that it is not possible to preserve all the languages, and that effort should be focused on those with substantive following.

While this is an emotive issue and practicalities are often unwelcome, I would vote for saving what you can before all native languages have faded to a handful of dictionaries in university libraries.

A language to an indigenous people is more than some living museum it is a symbol, a means of which to access their cultural identity. Who they are, their place in the universe, a way of life, an identity that is theirs. Not one that a conquering forces has imposed, but theirs. What price is your cultural identity?

It seems to some responders that they consider their cultures and religion very highly and I guess that is as it should be. But and it is a big but instead of exuding the arrogance of the conquering race we would be wise to learn from all cultures, as each has something unique to say.

Cheryl your reasoning has some merit. While in Adelaide I was peripherally involved with the creation of video on the migration/food cycle of the local tribes from the sand dunes of West Beach to the hills. I was attempting to arrange a video on a ‘cultural journey’ (their myths and their REASONS) sadly the Whiteman effect obstructed the project and I run out of time.

My growing up amongst two tribes in PNG and being regarded as just another child (a mouth that needed occasional feeding, a backside that needed the occasional kicking and a mind that need training) gave me an insight into different worlds, different ways of seeing and thinking. One of the languages I could make my self understood in (mostly forgotten now) is now threatened. When it goes, so will a whole understanding of nature, authority structure, unique society…the glue that gave a whole people their universe.

Noble Savage is a grossly arrogant misinterpretation and RELIGIOUS missionaries are little more than agents of cultural ignorance and genocide.
I can not express strongly enough the damage that waves of these supercilious people have done. Backed of course by the amoral entrepreneur seeking to exploit.

Historically for every good colonialist(including religious missionary there were 100’s of bad)

Resurrecting this ‘dead’ language misses the point it’s giving new life to a whole culture from which we may all learn IF WE CHOSE TO.

Not sure I agree with you Polycarp. Don't you think The Church were part of the problem? True, the missionaries in the story were good as they were interested in preserving the language, but more often than not, the stick was used to compel Aboriginals to learn English and forget their native tongue.

The fact that the Kaurna have regenerated their language through their own agency is quite a feat.